COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTIONSam Adams Imperial White pushes the boundaries of a witbier. While the brew delivers orange and coriander notes typical of a witbier, it has a bigger mouthfeel and body. It is truly a unique brew.

12 ounce bottle
Appearance: Pours a hazed, dark orange-amber body with a full, fluffy, off-white head.
Aroma: Bready with rotten orange, spices, and alcohol. Accents of light fruit and honey candy.
Taste: Sugary sweet tastes that’s both a tad bready and a tad tangy. Fair pinches of spice and orange peel. Thin drizzle of honey. Faintly spicy, floral hops and bitterness. Some warming alcohol qualities arrive late. Neither the hops nor the alcohol can seem to cut the sweet syrup. The sticky, warming finish quite strong.
Palate: Medium-plus body. Mellow, medium-low carbonation. Altogether thick, heavy mouthfeel.
Overall: I appreciate what Boston Beer Company is trying to do here. It gets my applause. But after tasting it I said to myself, "Was it really necessary to put this one out for public consumption. It’s an interesting brew. But a four-pack among friends is about all I need...ever. A true sipping beer. This beer does not "push out the boundaries of a witbier," it crosses the boundaries.

Pouring a slightly cloudy golden colour with a fulsome white head, this beer had a fragrant nose of gentle grains, orange zest, coriander seed and some banana. It was the thick body and the rounded, mellow flavours that captivated here. Mind you, I have had this bottle handy for about a year before I got around to its consumption. It masked the higher alcohols well and was a pleasant companion for a good hour or so.

Tasted on 9/28/11 from a bottle. Pours a hazy orange-amber with an average, smooth white head that slowly recedes to thin lace. The nose is like a witbier with the coriander showing nicely, but instead of orange peel, I am getting nearly sweet orange juice and a ton of dark caramelization. The flavor is sweet and caramelized up front with the sweet orange juice, moving to the coriander and finishing with some toast. The body is medium plus and quite oily with light carbonation and a long caramelized orange peel finish.

"first off, the previous reviews, or the sum at least, seem a little harsh to me. while this brew has it’s flaws, i enjoyed it, even though i won’t buy it again at $9-10 a 4-pack. again, the question is why. why take a style that is based on the delicacy of it’s aroma and flavors and imperialize it? must be an american thing. anyway, i had and enjoyed the inperial stout well enough, so i gave the double bock and white a shot as well. i am not a fan of sam adams white, but right on the pour i knew this would be another animal alltogether. right of the bat, this white ale poured a hazy full orange, more resembling an imperial ipa than a wit. obviously, everything from the aroma, the body, to the flavor and finish were amped up citrus, yeast, and maybe coriander in there under the sticky sweet sugar. i enjoyed the aroma, and the flavor wasn’t bad either, but the big sticky, and slightly too sweet body didn’t work, and the alcohol became too prevelant by the end. not as bad as it’s average, but definitely not worth the coin."

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